THROUGHOUT the course of this year plenty of new tournaments will be happening across the country with the aim of attracting more high-profile domestic events.
Junior and Senior players will feature in a new LTA Grade 2 Junior Open in Wrexham, while new British Tour and Disability events both North and South will feature, as well as a new Welsh Veterans Championship taking place in August.
I caught up with Participation and Competitions Manager Mark Lewis about his excitement and the expansion: “We’re delighted to be expanding the number of events here in Wales and particularly the range of new competitions we have on offer.”
“We have doubled the number of Disability Competitions compared to last year, working closely with Newport Tennis Centre, a great facility that will make for a fantastic competition venue and one we are definitely looking at for other events in future years.”
“The aim of these tournaments is to get all ages from across the country involved, something the Grade Two National Tour Competition can offer: “We are delighted to have been awarded a Grade 2 National Tour Competition by the LTA, titled the Welsh Junior Open 2020.”
“This is the highest graded junior competition in Wales and plans are already well under way to make it a fantastic event for all.”
“The event will run across eight days at Wrexham Tennis Centre and will include events from 10 & Under to 18 & Under, attracting players from all across the country to Wales.”
Along with the Welsh Junior Open, the first event taking place will be the Wheelchair Tennis Tournament on the 7th-8th of March.
The Visually Impaired Regional Tournament will be next up two weeks later. Both these events will take place in Newport.
On the 14th-16th of August, the David Lloyd Club, Cardiff, will host the Veterans National Tennis Championships.
Wrexham British Tour Tier 2 will follow in September, before a Learning Disability Tournament at the beginning of October.
I asked Lewis about the Disability events and the importance they provide to Tennis Wales: “It’s very important for us and something I know our team are very passionate about.”
“We have always been able to support our disability players and clubs in their training sessions, linking with the Tennis Foundation and more recently, the LTA.”
“As a result, we have seen the network of players and clubs grow recently with new sessions popping up and new clubs being formed as a result. We were very much aware though, there was not enough local competition opportunities for those that wanted to compete regularly.”
“We now have seven disability events across the whole of Wales for our players to compete in and we hope to increase this even further for 2021.”
Keep across all information regarding these events and all other tennis news happening near you with the LTA Tennis Wales Website.